‘No place in football for that’ – Ex-PGMOL chief outraged at Paul Tierney amid Preston vs Blackburn controversy
Preston North End should have gone down to 10 men during their Championship defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Deepdale.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that Paul Tierney should have had enough experience to show the right colour card.
It was a fascinating encounter between the two sides on Friday, 21 November, with fans having to wait until the 45th minute before Lewis Miller opened the scoring with a thumping header.
However, despite Blackburn going ahead before the half-time break, Alfie Devine capitalised on slack defending just 80 seconds later to ensure the sides were level before the second half.
Ben Whiteman should have been sent off in Preston North End controversy
Andri Gudjohnsen would smash home a second for Rovers just after the hour mark, and that turned out to be the winner, even despite Blackburn missing Todd Cantwell yet again through injury.
Of course, the Lilywhites were pressing for a late equaliser to avoid their fourth league defeat of the league campaign, but frustrations were evident late on at Deepdale.
Midfielder Ben Whiteman went crunching into a challenge on Moussa Baradji, and had the opponent’s player been planted, it might have been a broken leg rather than a quick check from the physios.
Both Tim Sherwood and Curtis Davies were furious, not only with the tackle but also with Tierney for not showing a red card, and Hackett certainly shares that view.
Paul Tierney to blame for Deepdale outrage
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the late challenge at Deepdale, the former referee said: “This challenge should have resulted in a straight red card. It fulfilled the law for serious foul play.
“Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging from the front, side or from behind, using one or both legs, with excessive force, endangers the safety of an opponent and is guilty of serious foul play.
“This challenge was delivered with excessive force and endangered the safety of an opponent. There was an element of malice. Sorry, referee, but you got this one wrong.
“There is no place in football for that type of challenge, and you would have hoped that experienced Premier League referee, Paul Tierney, would have judged this more accurately.”